Democratic state Sen. Andy Manar said he believes his latest version of a plan to redirect the way the state sends money to local schools — including cash for teacher pension relief to Chicago — should be the start for comprehensive talks to end Illinois' lengthy budget impasse.

But even before the downstate lawmaker unveiled his plan earlier this week, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner made it clear he opposes attempts at a massive rewrite of the state's school-aid formula for the coming school year. Democrats are "screaming 'Crisis! Crisis!'" when "they created it," Rauner said.

The issue of state funding for schools, and state cash assistance to Chicago Public Schools, always results in a rancorous debate in Springfield that tends to fall along not just partisan but geographical lines.

The issue is exacerbated by concerns that the state budget impasse could extend past the start of the next school year, even past November elections for members of the General Assembly. The debate also comes as CPS faces immediate cash-flow pressures and its powerful teachers union seeks a new contract.

At the heart of the stalemate is the belief on each side that they are winning the public opinion battle in an important election year.

Rauner has made approval of items on what he calls his "turnaround agenda," including union-weakening provisions, a requirement for any tax revenue increases and a comprehensive state budget deal. Democrats, who control the General Assembly, have repeatedly said they will not support efforts to weaken their union allies.

With Rauner having vowed to use his vast personal resources to try to erode Democratic control of the legislature, the outcome of the Nov. 8 general election — in which all 118 House seats and 40 of 59 state Senate seats are at stake — could become a pivotal factor if a resolution to the impasse isn't reached sooner.

But another pressure point could surface just a few months earlier, when public schools are scheduled to begin their new year.

The lack of state funds due to the continued budget impasse could keep schools that are heavily dependent upon dollars from Springfield from opening on time, creating a dilemma for parents.

Rauner and Democrats led in the House by Speaker Michael Madigan and in the Senate by President John Cullerton may be rolling the political dice in betting who the public will blame on Election Day if that happens.

Such a pressure point was avoided last year when Rauner vetoed all but the Democratic-drawn elementary and secondary education budget for the state.

Seeing what Rauner did with the school budget last year, Democrats may try to use any school budget appropriation this year to try to gain some kind of leverage against the Republican governor's agenda.

"All of us want to fund education. How that happens and when that happens is still up for discussion," said state Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. "It's only the beginning of April. We have plenty of time to get this budget finished, and plenty of time before the next school year."

The issue is complicated beyond simple partisanship.

Generally, suburban schools in wealthier property areas receive few state dollars but remain reluctant to give them up in efforts to provide greater state funding to districts with lower property values. Districts also get state dollars for transportation, bilingual and special education, and other needs.

The financial woes of CPS make passage of any rescue plan exponentially more difficult in an election year. Manar's latest plan would have the state pick up $200 million of the amount property taxpayers put into CPS teacher pensions.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and others have complained of the inequity of Chicago taxpayers financing their teacher pensions through property taxes while state taxes — also being paid by Chicagoans — finance educator pensions in the rest of the state.

But Republicans immediately labeled Manar's plan as a "bailout" for CPS. And Downstate Democrats, seeking re-election, are unlikely to want to support aid to Chicago's schools and further tar themselves as being loyalists to city Democrats at the expense of their region.

Helping CPS is made even more politically unpalatable for some because of last year's guilty plea by former district CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett on a felony count of wire fraud for steering multimillion-dollar no-bid contracts to a former employer in exchange for the promise of up to $2.3 million in kickbacks.

Even Madigan, the House speaker for 31 of the past 33 years, has raised questions about Manar's pension pickup for Chicago. Madigan, a Southwest Side Democrat, has been advocating a shift of teacher pension costs away from the state and onto local school districts.

But Cullerton, a close ally of Emanuel, has backed Manar's overall effort. Cullerton, who has called the school funding issue the "defining crisis of our time," has insisted that the funding formula must be changed before lawmakers' appropriate money for schools this year.

Rauner disagrees.

"We should not hold school funding hostage to this issue. This issue was created by the Democrats, and to say this year we're going to hold up school funding, the opening of schools until this gets fixed? That's not fair," he said.

Rauner has voiced support for changing the funding formula but not immediately.

Instead, he has asked lawmakers to send him a stand-alone funding bill for early childhood education and primary and secondary schools. Rauner wants increased funding to achieve the $6,119 per-pupil "foundation level" that Illinois is supposed to give school districts, though the state has failed to meet the level for years.

Rauner has criticized earlier proposals to change the school aid formula as a "cynical strategy" that pits school districts against one another — the traditional battle of winners and losers in attempts to redraw the formula. Instead he favors a formula that would give districts at least the same amount of money they currently receive.

Manar, however, said his bill has incorporated items Rauner has talked about when it comes to school funding — including $400 million in first-year funding to make sure no school district loses any money under the Democrats' proposed formula changes. That funding would be phased out over four years to allow districts to plan for the future reductions in state aid, he said.

"Much of what we're proposing in our new bill are ideas and concepts that the governor has traveled the state and talked about extensively," Manar said. "That's how you build a consensus to try to come up with a bipartisan solution."

What many in the elementary and secondary education community fear for next school year is what they have seen happening to their colleagues in the state's higher education community.

Universities, operating without any state funding, have struggled and smaller schools, without sizable endowments, are facing layoffs, program cuts and potential shutdown. Millions of dollars in unfunded state grants for low-income students will no longer be subsidized by some universities.

But with several universities located downstate, Republican legislative districts, there are indications that the unity of the GOP caucuses with Rauner could be splintering.

As for changing elementary and secondary funding through a new school aid formula, Manar said he is willing to listen to varied viewpoints but he isn't willing to listen to those who say the issue requires more study.

"This is a statewide problem. This calls for a statewide solution," he said, words that also could be applied to the state's budget impasse.

A version of this article appeared in print on April 08, 2016, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "School funding in budget limbo - Debate breaks along political, geographical lines" —
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